Chapter 430

Chapter 430: This Time, It’s a Big Star Who Had Appeared in Two Films!

"Hehe, didn’t expect that, did you?"

"I’m actually quite skilled with toxins too!"

Trilobite was splashing water with his hind legs, keeping his nose above the surface, looking rather comical.

Truth be told, crocodiles move similarly in shallow waters and swim quite fast.

Though Trilobite the saber-toothed Bopolong couldn’t match a crocodile’s swimming capability, most lizard-like creatures naturally possess long tails.

Their slender builds often suit aquatic movement, granting them innate swimming prowess.

Moreover, Trilobite’s "air chambers" gave his body lower density, allowing him to swim skillfully at decent speed.

Having distanced himself from the earlier area, he now secretly raised his head above the sea, hiding beside a coral reef likely washed ashore. From there, he observed the "red tree fern embankment."

His two spawn hadn’t followed.

They were still slowly gnawing on the Dorsal-toothed Canglong corpses.

*Splash…*

Trilobite stealthily emerged from the seawater, using his Calcite Eyes to scan and mentally picture the distant scene.

Here, the advantage of his "Calcite Eyes" shone—utterly waterproof!

No need for nictitating membranes like crocodiles; his eyes transitioned perfectly between water and land.

Now, the blurred outlines in the distance formed a clear mental image: giant pig-like creatures writhing and howling in agony.

"Serves you right for eating my red tree fern!"

"Retribution!"

"If active defense won’t work, I’ll make the ‘red tree fern’ defend passively!"

"Hmph, plants aren’t pushovers when provoked!"

Without nervous systems or specialized cell differentiation, plants feel no pain and regenerate well—but this leaves them immobile against threats.

When "predators" attack, they simply stand and endure, relying on recovery.

Yet plants aren’t defenseless.

Some armor leaves with indigestible layers; others grow thorns to deter herbivores; some recruit insects as bodyguards…

Certain tactics proved remarkably effective, even reshaping ecosystems.

Take today’s ubiquitous grasses—Poaceae plants—which pulled off a major feat early on.

By embedding silica crystals in their leaves, they became nearly inedible.

When the climate cooled after the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, vast grasslands replaced dense forests.

Early herbivorous mammals, accustomed to tender foliage, found these tough grasses impossible to chew or digest.

Thus, they followed the Water Lizard’s path: starving amid abundant greenery.

This triggered the Eocene-Oligocene extinction event.

Indeed, plant evolution can reshape the entire web of life!

“Of course, adding silicon crystals to leaves could be countered by herbivores increasing their tooth crowns and boosting their chewing capability, and if that didn’t work, they could use rumination.”

“But since physical defenses wouldn’t work…”

“Then let’s use magic!”

“Uh, I mean, add some poison!”

“For example…”

“Oleander glycoside!”

The upgrade project Trilobite purchased for the “red tree fern” was oleander glycoside.

This large molecular chemical substance was a type of “cardiac glycoside” toxin that acted on creatures’ hearts.

It was widely found in oleander plants.

Even though oleander is a common ornamental flower, every part of it held this powerful venom; a person only needed to eat about ten leaves for it to threaten life.

Of course, most people weren’t that foolish.

Oleander didn’t taste good, so why eat its leaves and down ten at once?

But it was very dangerous for infants.

Babies often grabbed things and put them in their mouths, so if they picked up fallen oleander leaves…

Just one leaf could endanger an infant’s life!

For animals, oleander’s toxins were also deadly.

It only took five milligrams of “oleander toxin” to kill an animal weighing one kilogram; this scary threat meant few herbivores ate oleander.

“You guys must be living in the Triassic period; I bet you’ve never met plants with ‘oleander toxins.’”

Trilobite watched the ten or so round, bulky creatures swaying and rolling on the ground, vomiting nonstop, and nodded in satisfaction.

“The symptoms are like angina.”

“But they only ate a little, so the poison isn’t strong, and they won’t die.”

“Just puking everywhere has already done you a favor!”

“It’s good for you ‘Kenyichthyosaurs’ to suffer, weakening your stamina and judgment, to make my hunting easier!”

“Uh… to be exact, you should be the Flat Kenyichthyosaur.”

Kenyichthyosaurs and the Two-toothed creatures group they belonged to.

The Flat Kenyichthyosaur was a big member of the Two-toothed clan.

Its Length reached 3.5 meters, and its weight was between 1.5 and 2 tons, about the size of a hippo.

These creatures’ main feature was a turtle-like beak and two useless fangs sticking out from their upper jaw.

Eating plants and having fangs, in some ways, they really were like hippos.

This basic setup fit most Two-toothed creatures.

Trilobite knew them well, and so did most paleontologists.

The reason was simple: lots of fossils!

Kenyichthyosaurs and Water Lizards both belonged to the clan of Two-toothed creatures, the only animals thriving before and after the Mass Extinction at the end of the Permian period.

Since the Permian Mass Extinction nearly wiped out all competitors and natural enemies of the Two-toothed creatures, these unremarkable, even rather "clumsy"-looking beings began multiplying and evolving wildly, spreading across the globe during the Early Triassic Period.

In Early Triassic rock layers, wherever fossils were found, Two-toothed creatures were always present.

Estimates suggest that during that era, Two-toothed creatures once made up seventy to ninety percent of all life!

Such dominance is unimaginable in any era; they represented a certain pinnacle for archosaurs.

But soon, competitors emerged one by one.

Sturdy Lizard-types and the dinosaur order became their powerful rivals; crocodile cousins crawled out to hunt them relentlessly; even canine-jawed archosaurs struck hard against their own kin.

The Carnian flood event further reshaped global vegetation.

In the end, only a few Two-toothed creatures survived into the late Triassic.

By then, massive early sauropodomorphs like Plateosaurus roamed the land. They gazed disdainfully at these relics of the past while embracing the new era’s dawn.

The last Two-toothed creatures could only exchange glances with future dragon ancestors before fading into the old era’s darkness.

Until humans unearthed them and told their story.

They even made documentaries about them, seen by a boy named Trilobite.

“This Flat Kenyichthyosaur appeared in a BBC documentary.”

“And starred in more than one!”

“Ah, the second wasn’t BBC—Discovery Channel made it.”

“A true celebrity!”

Again, it was the often-mentioned documentary "Walking with Monsters," showcasing life before dinosaurs.

Flat Kenyichthyosaurs likely appeared in the final episode. They seemed unimpressive—sluggish, clumsy, just moving mounds of flesh.

Postosuchus even chased them, biting one to death!

In contrast, their role in Discovery Channel’s "Dinosaur Revolution" was far more remarkable.

("Dinosaur Revolution" featured the “crooked-mouthed Allosaurus,” blending paleontology with storytelling.)

Not only did they save a family of Ornitholestes, but three mighty Kenyichthyosaurs teamed up to defeat the local bully “Lizard Croc.”

Truly powerful in combat.

“See which documentary’s portrayal fits you better.”

Trilobite dove again, preparing to ambush those “Flat Kenyichthyosaurs.”

But when he resurfaced, striking first seemed too late.

“Ah, while ‘Dinosaur Revolution’ exaggerated its storytelling, it captured Kenyichthyosaur behavior more accurately.”

The “Flat Kenyichthyosaurs” weren’t fools. After their companions got sick, the others stopped eating and vomited their meals.

The affected ones triggered self-protection, vomiting violently too.

As toxins flooded out, oleander glycoside’s effects faded. The Flat Kenyichthyosaurs even showed signs of recovery.

Though still slow-moving with dull, hazy eyes, their combat strength plummeted. Yet they managed to retreat slowly, huddling together.

“Huh? Strong livers? Detoxifying this fast?”

“No matter.”

“I’ve got a trump card.”

“All that Chaos Energy for my ‘microorganisms spawn 1’ wasn’t wasted!”

“Just using ‘Capsules’ for self-preservation inside you was pointless.”

“So I invested heavily, arming them with new ‘weapons’—making real ‘bioweapons’!”

Just then…

“Huh!?”

One Flat Kenyichthyosaur shuddered violently.